Often a switch cabinet includes many electrical components that are necessary to supply and control various machines used in a plant. Typically, the electrical units located in a switch cabinet include power switches, power packs, input/output units, fuses, transformers, and terminals for access wiring and for intermediate and outgoing routing. The individual electrical components can be arranged in the switch cabinet such that several input/output units can be located in one area of the cabinet and power switches can be oriented in another area. The different components can then be wired together to provide the full functionality of the switch cabinet.
Installation of modules in a switch cabinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,076, which illustrates and describes a switch cabinet that includes a switch cabinet box having several electrical functional modules. The modules are disposed onto a bearing rail that is disposed in the switch cabinet and has the shape of a hat and serves as module carrier. The individual modules are connected to the rail by contact tongues in the modules.
Data and power bus systems can be used for the wiring of individual modules and the connection of modular sensors, actuators, and also various input-output units. The switch cabinet can include functional, block-oriented modules necessary for powering and controlling a machine, and the modules can each perform a dedicated function.